jessica*bree

Five Favorite Technologies

I sometimes wonder what I would do with out all my gadgets and favorite websites.  I depend on these things so much and enjoy finding new ones.  What sites, aps or gadgets do you use all the time?  For me here is five things I adore:

1. My Nook - as an avid reader, I can imagine nothing more enjoyable than the instant gratification of a new book anytime, any where.  I justified my Nook for travel - I can take 5 books with me on a trip to Europe without having to drag all those books around.  But honestly, I use my Nook or my iPhone Nook Ap everyday!  
2. Yelp - I love food, eating out with others, and trying great new places to eat.  So Yelp is my favorite web based tool by far.  While in other cities I Yelp'ed for places to eat and was not disappointed.  I also use Yelp to check out new places here in Atlanta.  If you have never checked Yelp out, I highly recommend it!
3. iPhone - yes, I am a sell out.  But I LOVE my iPhone.  For the first time ever, I feel like I have a device that is truly portable, easy to use, and that enhances my life.  I am notorious for losing my phones (and my keys, my wallet, my purse, my coat...) but I usually notice immediately if my iPhone is "missing".  I use it to wake up in the morning, to keep in touch with friends and family, to entertain me, manage my personal life, harass my coworkers during meetings, to read at night and to lull me to sleep with my sound machine.  
4. Hulu - I am total TV addict, so Hulu is perfect for me.  I love being able to catch up on a missed show or discovering a foreign show I have never seen.
5. Digital cameras - how did people survive before digi cameras?  Being able to see if I got the photo is so fantastic.  I love that I can download my photos and share them right away with others.  And storing, sorting and printing my photos is so easy.  Just brilliant!

Odd experiences in Dubai

I recently visited Dubai on a business trip and have to say it was an interesting experience if nothing else.  Some observations...

1. No one in Dubai is local.  Okay that's not true really, but Dubai has the largest ex-pat community of anywhere I have ever been.  And a huge portion of them are from India.  So I had the unique experience of getting a taste of Indian culture in the Vegas of the middle east.  I had great Indian food at least, which was a good thing :)

The Indian restaurant I ate at:

2. Everything in Dubai is new.  Its all stunning towers and shiny malls full of Western brands.  Honestly, while in a mall in Dubai it was nearly impossible to tell where in the world I was.  I easily could have been in the US.  

Mall in Dubai

3. Dubai is an odd mix of very rich and then the less nice/not so orderly.  After visiting the largest mall ever with its beautiful architecture and shining floors, I then wandered the business wasteland near my hotel with drab shops and dirty floors.  Even the new looking Starbucks by my hotel, which looks like it was well designed and built, had these nasty carpets in the back that needed to be cleaned (or ripped up and burned, perhaps).

Proof of the oddly nice but dirty Starbucks

 

The vandalized table

4. In my glimpses into Indian culture, I experienced "hospitality" that was charming on day 1 and stifling by day 3!  And I observed the common practice of straight Indian men walking around holding  hands.  It was so odd to an American... You can read a humorous post about this behavior here: Stuff Indian Like

5. And I was reminded that your previous notions of a culture are often biased and incomplete.  I heard women dressed in very conservative outfits and even in burka's talk about how they think of beauty and appearance and it was quite surprising.  It was a great business trip because of this, but not a place I am that eager to return to.  For me, once was enough.

But a few good touristy images of our drive and dinner out in the desert!